Boy lies about visiting Jesus! Best seller recanted!

[Doc Savage Fan]

Well certainly some of those churchy types were douchy frauds.

My point was regarding his bigotry.

 

[WelshBloke]

My point was regarding his bigotry.

Well his (admittedly hyperbolic and unnecessarily ranty) reply was to this post...

A religious person full of shit you say? Well, as long as the organized branches of christianity never lie to further their agenda or financial well-being everything should be ok. :hmm:

So if he was just referring to the organized church that are just in it for profit then his point stands.

 

[BurnItDwn]

<--changed below for accuracy!!

Many Atheists encourage people to read the bible since it will open their eyes because they are closet Christians!

There are many atheist or agnostic folks who live a "christian life" because they are afraid of being judged by their community, so that is kinda like a Closet Christian i guess. They do not believe any of the horseshit that was preached to them, but, they pretend to believe in it so that their place in the community is not harmed due to the highly judgmental and ignorant people you can find in religious cults.

Is this what you meant be closet Christians? Atheists who pretend to be Christians to avoid persecution?

 

[Exophase]

There are many atheist or agnostic folks who live a "christian life" because they are afraid of being judged by their community, so that is kinda like a Closet Christian i guess. They do not believe any of the horseshit that was preached to them, but, they pretend to believe in it so that their place in the community is not harmed due to the highly judgmental and ignorant people you can find in religious cults.

Is this what you meant be closet Christians? Atheists who pretend to be Christians to avoid persecution?

No, that would be a closet atheist or agnostic person.

A closet Christian would be a Christian who is afraid to make that known to other people. I'm sure they exist to some extent, where they're either afraid of being called blasphemers to another religion (like Islam or Judaism) or they're afraid of being ridiculed by atheists. At the very least there are going to be people who don't really talk about their religious beliefs, both because they don't want to cause controversy or contention and because to some people it's a very personal and private thing.

But the idea that anyone who would encourage people to read the Bible must really be a Christian is laughable. Especially if the people being encouraged are already Christian! In that case they probably just want the other person to be better informed.

 

[Moonbeam]

He obviously believes he's superior. He's a bigot and is too stupid to realize what a sorry human being he is.

Even if you are right in his case and my point was I can't tell since he is right in some cases, that gives you no right to judge his bigotry. Bigots are folk with limited experiences who believe that what they define as good is the real good and can't see that because thy instinctively know there is something that is real good beyond the duality of our thinking. It is just as bigoted to be bigoted against bigotry as any other form of bigotry, no? All you can do is inform, you can't make bigots see.

 

[Subyman]

Anyone find it strange how the OP seemed to be giddy about a traumatized boy recanting his death bed story?

 

[Moonbeam]

Anyone find it strange how the OP seemed to be giddy about a traumatized boy recanting his death bed story?

Religious people believe in a Gods that are based on texts that are logically ridiculous and that promise immortality. When many grow up and discover the fraud, disappointment turns to self contempt that we could have been such chumps and we externalize that contempt toward religion. It's not strange, but it is sad because the word God stands for something that's real. God is a state of consciousness that some people experience and anyone can.

 

[Exophase]

Anyone find it strange how the OP seemed to be giddy about a traumatized boy recanting his death bed story?

The boy's situation doesn't change regardless.

I'm not giddy about it, but I'm glad that the truth has prevailed. These stories can be dangerous, convincing people to induce NDEs or even outright off themselves because they think that they'll be treated to whatever the story promises on the other side.

If more people open their eyes to the fact that maybe the stories aren't necessarily true or accurate then that's probably for the best.

 

[Buckeye269]

I'm so glad I stumbled across this post. I personally know the family. I used to help babysit the other children while Alex was undergoing hospital visits or anything else medical where the parents needed to not have distractions around. Let me set a few things straight. The father of the family, the author of the book, is just about the worst person I have ever heard of. The kid told the story initially because it's the story everyone, mainly his father, wanted to hear. Of course he will say nearly anything he can to get attention; he was in a car accident that should have killed him. I'm sure everyone in the hospital talked about how much of a miracle it was that he survived.

Second, I'm from the same place as this family. Most people around us are religious. I realize that this is a dying belief, especially here on the internet where atheists scream about stuff like this until no one cares.

Now let me start about his family. Alex's mother is the most caring person I have ever met. She has raised Alex, along with three other kids, basically single handedly. Kevin, the father and author of the book, "works alot." He works about an hour away from home and would stay at work very late nearly every night. After he wrote the book I believe he reduced his "day job" time and started promoting his book and going to book signings, etc. His family saw almost no support from him during this time. He would leave and make sure that the mother had little money to spend, even though all she needed to buy was gas and groceries. In my opinion, he was afraid she would leave and take the children, discrediting his facade of being a loving father and husband.

 

[GoPackGo]

So the book will no longer be sold. I imagine a class action lawsuit will follow and the Dad / Kid being sued by the publisher for fraud.